Black Friday is not Just for Christmas Shopping

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when when department stores lose their proverbial minds and sell items at a loss to attract Christmas shoppers. This year will be no different. Target has gone over the deep end for the 2009 Black Friday Christmas shopping day. This year Target will be selling kitchen appliances including Chefmate coffeemakers, toasters, slow cookers, and sandwich makers for only $3.00. Normally, I would not buy appliances for $3.00 for fear that they would fall apart in 30 days. However, because they are being sold on Black Friday 2009, I quickly realized that these small … Continue reading

Last minute gift ideas for homeschooling families

If you have a family on your Christmas list who are homeschoolers and don’t know what to purchase them, this list will help: Case of Printer Paper: Homeschoolers go through a great deal of printer paper as they research things online, and print them for future reference. A case of printer paper will go a long way in making their life easier. A case of paper can cost from $20.00 to $45.00. Case of notebooks: Homeschoolers use notebooks for journals, handwriting, and to study certain subjects. You can purchase one subject notebooks for $1.00 each. Box of art supplies: Go … Continue reading

Homeschooling in December

December is a difficult month for homeschooling. Home life is all but disrupted from Thanksgiving until January first with family dinners, outings and friends stopping by. So, it is nearly impossible to keep a homeschool routine and keep the lessons going. In past years, I have gone as far as to declare a winter vacation from homeschooling. In other years, my kids have declared a holiday and refused to look at a book until January. During those years, we just added the lost time at the end of the school year giving us a one month winter break and a … Continue reading

Do You Buy a Joint Christmas Gift?

Christmas is a very happy and jolly time for families and couples. I love the excitement in the air and the decorations around the town. I even enjoy doing my Christmas shopping during the last few days. However once you have been married for several years, especially if you have children, Christmas shopping and gift opening can turn more to others than you and your mate. After being married for a few years, many couples decide to buy joint a Christmas present. In other words, they do not get each other a Christmas present. Instead they choose to make a … Continue reading

Christmas Shopping for Your Mate

Buying a gift for a loved one can be tricky, time consuming, and complicated. In most cases, spouses want to buy a gift that their mates will enjoy and like. However, in some situations mates buy gifts just to satisfy the responsiblity of giving a gift. Some men are very in touch with the thoughts and ideas of their wives. They know what size clothing and shoes their wives wear and they know her likes and dislikes. They know her favorite stores and how to give her the surprise of a lifetime. These men usually have no trouble shopping and … Continue reading

Christmas Gifts to Help Your Family Stay in Touch

If you live far away from your relatives, Christmas is a time that can bring you closer together. As parents you may be looking for gifts that will help your children connect with their grandparents. Technology has opened many new doors to make this a much easier process. Here are five gifts that you can give to help your family stay more connected. In later blogs I will list specific suggestions on how to better utilize these gifts to stay in touch with each other. 1) If you do not already have a web cam this is a great gift … Continue reading

Highlights Magazine: Fun with a Purpose!

Highlights Magazine has been around for sixty years, if you can believe that. This children’s periodical has delighted generations of youngsters, opened minds, entertained and edified. Now you can bring this magazine into your home for the next generation to enjoy. Each issue has regular features, such as: Hidden Pictures – find the objects that have been hidden in the picture. A list is provided so you know what you’re looking for. Some objects are obvious, but others are a little harder to locate. Goofus and Gallant – these two boys have sure changed in appearance over the years, but … Continue reading

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading

The Homeschoolers’ Advent Calendar: The BIG Shopping Day

Some people say that we are certifiably insane, but we do all of our Christmas shopping in one day. That doesn’t sound so bad until you consider that we’re buying presents for 7 nieces and nephews, 5 of our own children, several friends in church, and of course we help our kids give gifts to each other. When we’re all done, we have a van full of presents, exhausted kids, and a whole night of wrapping ahead of us! There are a variety of reasons we do it this way but none of them have to do with homeschooling so … Continue reading

The Week in Review: November 11

I know this is a day late. I cannot explain why for if I list all of the things that broke in our household that would be my whole blog. In any case, this is the week in review. Have you ever heard someone talk about how their child knew such and such at a much earlier age than you’re child did? Then they start to imply that perhaps the home schooling thing isn’t working out so well. That’s exactly what we talked about earlier in the week in, The Fallacy of Comparing Children. Do you teach your children foreign … Continue reading